December 13th Holiday Recommendations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

From now until Christmas, TheTalkingBox will feature daily holiday programming recommendations! We like to think of it as our 12 Days of Christmas gift to you! Although we are continuing to add things to the final week of our Holiday Programming Schedule, there's just so much showing that we thought it would be a nice gesture to give some insight as to some of our favorites. Look for a new post daily with highlights of what will be airing! As always, times are Eastern and Pacific to the best of our knowledge (except when noted otherwise), but it's always good to double-check with your own provider.

Holiday Recommendations for Tuesday, December 13th:
9am: Full House "Our Very First Christmas Show" (ABCFamily)- This is the Christmas episode where the Tanners are stuck at the airport for Christmas Eve, since a blizzard hit and stranded them. It's a good episode because it really makes the best of a bad situation.

4:30pm (PT): A Christmas Story (Boomerang)
- A dog and a mouse must find Santa Claus to deliver a letter on Christmas Eve. While the animation is old-school (we're talking very early 70s, folks), it's a cute story that has some great songs, including "Which One is the Real Santa Claus?" which is better known from a later appearance in one of the Flintstones holiday specials.

6pm: Merry Madagascar (ABCFamily)
- Santa Claus crashes into the island and has amnesia, so the animals must deliver the presents... plus, try to get back to Central Park! I think that the Madagascar characters are really lovable, and this is a nice, albeit modern, holiday special.

6:30pm: Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (ABCFamily)
- Since Po is the Dragon Warrior, he has a lot on his plate for the holidays, since he's now the host of the Winter Feast. This special (released last year) is really about the balance between family traditions and other obligations.

8pm: It's a Wonderful Life (NBC)- How can we not recommend this one? It's one of the few movies that many agree is a true Christmas Classic. In case you don't know what this film is about, it's based on Philip Van Doren Stern's short story, "The Greatest Gift," about a suicidal man who is shown the differences he has made in others' lives. It stars Jimmy Stewart and was released around the holidays in 1946.

9pm: Everybody Loves Raymond "Christmas Present" (TVLand)
- This is the Christmas episode where Ray wants to go golfing, so he tries to get Debra an extra-special gift so that she will let him. It all backfires when the gift that Robert tells Ray Debra's getting him ends up being a decoy. I think it's pretty hilarious and very trademark Ray for the show.